I’ve lived on Ralston Street in Reno for about ten months.
Relatively, that’s not a long time — but I feel like the area has become its own version of home.
This is definitely a far cry from South Reno, where I originally grew up. And even now, south Reno seems like a completely new place. Especially with the prospect of downtown Damonte, an area that will include luxury apartments and shops.
Here on Ralston, my neighbors include fraternities, sororities, students, a fire station, a restaurant and the occasional family. It all varies — I’ve heard nearby neighbors yelling at each other, with the police showing up. Surprisingly, I rarely hear sirens from fire trucks. At the same time, there are people out walking their dogs, parents playing with their children and students walking to campus. Of course, there’s lots of UNR students and Bird scooters. It’s easy with the walk to campus only taking 10–15 minutes. On walks to school, people on scooters pass by. Music blasts from cars.
Pub N’ Sub seems to draw the most people, and not just students. With the summer coming in, the restaurant will turn on their string lights that hang over the front deck. The times that I’ve been there have always been easy, with groups of people sitting in the back on cool summer nights.
Weekends are the loudest, especially now that it’s getting warmer. Music sounds from the surrounding frats and sororities (I’m talking about St. Patrick’s Day). But honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated it would be. They’re not the only ones - the fire station will open their doors and play music as well.
Nearby, the Whitaker Park tennis courts are starting to get busy on the weekends. The playground is filled with families and dogs. My sister and I would walk up to Rancho San Rafael Park, although after the incident that occurred recently with a dog being shot and killed, it has a sinister quality that I never felt before.
Just from what I’ve seen while living here, Ralston Street has an abundance of history. Homage used to be located on this street, near St. Mary’s Hospital. I had a friend that used to work there. It closed down last December, after being open for roughly 12 years.
If you follow Ralston to the south, towards the Truckee River, it will eventually turn into Riverside Drive. This stretch is always the part that I’ve loved the most: In the summer, it’s a clear shot, by bike, to Food Truck Friday in Idlewild Park, and on Sundays, it’s the Riverside Farmers Market.
I recently found out that the street is named after William C. Ralston. He founded the Bank of California, but found his wealth during Nevada’s Comstock Lode. The Washoe County Library website has an archive of the Reno Gazette-Journal, which was helpful for looking back into the history of Reno. It takes a while to sift through, but it’s an effective resource that I would recommend checking out.
Ralston Street is mentioned in the Reno Evening Gazette in bills for city ordinances, as well as naming city precincts. This paper merged with the Nevada State Journal and formed the Reno Gazette Journal back in 1983. Ralston Street is also mentioned in public notices and ads. Pub N’ Sub is mentioned as far back as 1976.
For the now, it’s obvious that this street has relatively nothing to do with that Ralston. This street has become an integral part of downtown Reno — it’s close to all of the Neon Line projects that are currently going on, one topic that’s been debated and protested over recently.
For me, Ralston Street symbolizes the end of my college experience at UNR, and a time of figuring out what makes a home. It was my intro to downtown-ish living. I only plan on staying in Reno for the next year or so, ready to find a new adventure wherever I find a job in journalism, but even after I leave, Ralston Street will always be the place that was my first home away from home.